Hacienda San Vincente / Yellow House Trail & Lodge (Casa Amarilla)

We had a wonderful time during our stay. The atmosphere was incredibly peaceful and serene, allowing us to fully unwind and relax. The location is situated on the outskirts of town, offering a peaceful atmosphere while still being within walking distance to the town center.

I enjoyed my daily breakfast, which consisted of a delicious assortment of fresh fruits and eggs. The variety of birds that visited during our breakfast was impressive.

Great lodge, stayed for 6 nights in total with two friends. The location couldn't be better - it's a bit hidden from the busy streets and has various trails to explore. It's very quiet at night, and rooms are very spacious and equipped with everything.
The hosts of the lodge are very kind and helped us so much during our stay. We communicated mostly by email and the responses are very fast. Some services that I'd like to highlight:
- Night tours looking for animals and reptiles
- Rain boots for rent
- Laundry room
- Kindly let us use their umbrellas
- Awesome takeout breakfast (sandwich, fresh fruit, snacks, water) as we had to leave the lodge before 5 am every day
- Bird feeders

Used only the trails but the cabins looked beautiful. Wonderful experience and I hope to come back and stay for a couple weeks. The trail is maintained, safe, and very easy as long as you have the right equipment and understand that the uphill climb will be challenging. Saw dozens of birds and was able to identify 18 different species in an hour with poor visibility in the off season. Don't mind the reviews that say they don't see any birds, if you know how to look and have patience, you'll see a multitude of species. Highly recommend.

We made a reservation for two nights there in early Oct. We liked it so much that we extended our stay for another night. Maria and her staff are the kindest hosts and we are lucky to get to know them. The stand-alone cabin is very spacious and comfortable. It has a big bedroom, bathroom and a terrace, with access to a kitchen downstairs in a separate unit. We spent a lot of time on the terrace watching the birds, and saw many including Toucans, motmots, different kinds of tanagers and hummingbirds, and much more. Apparently there is a potoo near the house where you have breakfast, but we discovered the location too late and missed it as it’s only there in the afternoon or early evening. We walked the trails twice and saw many birds. If you pay attention to the calls of the toucans, you are almost garanteed to see them on the trails. Also, one trail has many motmot nests on the side of the path and they fly out of the nests from time to time. Unfortunately we missed seeing the monkeys, but other people we met at the breakfast said they saw them just behind the house. BTW, as others have written, the breakfast is delicious. Also, for a very reasonable fee, you can have your laundry done by a lady onsite. We love staying there and plan to stay for at least a week next time we visit Ecuador.

I enjoyed my stay here. I had a nice big room with private bathroom for a reasonable price. The breakfasts were amazing with lots of hummingbirds feeding. The trail itself takes several hours and I didn't see many birds -- but I attribute that to my birding skills - the view on trail 3 was great. I like that the location is a bit outside of the town but everything easily accessible. They will arrange for taxis to pick you up if you want.

Its a good place to explore the birds of Mindo. The entry costs 7$. We started our walking tour around 7 AM and with moderate tempo it took us about 30 min until we reached trail 1. We then went to trail 3 with the main road which took us about 15-20 min. For Trail 1,2 and 3 if you just walk through it takes you about 10 min. As said we first went to trail 3 and then about 9AM to trail 2 and 1 since this is the thime when the monkeys wake up. We saw a couple of toucans, big butterflies, one motmot, some tanagers but unfortunately no monkeys. Its all about luck and how good your sight is that will allow you to see more animals.

The walk was worth it, although the entry price could have been lower...

5 stars for location, hospitality, and bird-watching. You can bird watch right from your balcony. We saw toucans, motmots, tanagers, and many more birds.

They also have a nice breakfast with scenic views and hummingbird feeders. It's a 10 minute walk to town so you can get there easily, but still be a little removed and in nature.

Everything was very clean, but it's a rustic cabin experience so please be mindful of this. Also, the trails are very nice. Please note to get to the upper trails 1-4, you need to hike uphill for approximately 45 minutes.

I would definitely stay here again. It's a very special place.

We stayed at Yellow house for two nights. The experience was wonderful. We loved everything there: the delicious breakfast, the awesome hummingbird feeder, and the trail. The shower is great and the beds are comfortable. Do not use the tap water to brush your teeth, use the drinking water provided instead. From the balcony, we saw more than 10 types of birds in 30minutes. We also hiked trails 1, 2, 3, 4 and a bit of trail #5. The trail is well maintained and the hike is wonderful. We saw a group of endangered Ecuadorian white-fronted capuchin monkey at the end of trail 2, which is definitely the highlight of the day. The overview at trail 3 for Mindo valley is very nice. As for for birds, we saw more birds in the backyard from the balcony than from the actual trails. I hope we could come back again in the future and stay for longer. Communication with them is a breeze and the service is top notch. Highly recommended for birders in Mindo.

We recently spent 4 wonderful days at the Yellow House Trails and Lodge. The fairly rustic accommodations were perfect for us. Plenty of hot water for showers, our room came with a full kitchen and a very large and lovely veranda. The trail system they have established is excellent and full of amazing birds. We spent an entire day on the trails taking in all the birds, plants and a few other animals. The location of the lodge is perfect. Easily walkable to Mindo down their private road - only 10 minute walk to town unless you are trying to identify all the birds (one trip we spent over an hour due to all of the birds needing to be seen). The owners Eleana and Christina are very friendly and helpful. We will definitely stay with them again.

Just a wonderful place hidden in the midst of Mindo, the owners are super hospitable, the breakfast was a highlight ever morning. The birding was very good, with a lot of variety. Its a great place to take the family. I would highly recommend the Yellow House. One note bring cash, the ATM in Mindo, does not work.

6 stars. absolutely fantastic. the trails are beautiful and full of birds, you can spend 7 hours walking them. the hotel itself is splendid too, I expected a small room and got an entire cabin, with private shower, kitchen, balcony and hammock. it's one of my favorite hotels ever.

Stay at the Yellow House while you're in Mindo! The sisters who own the place are great, very hospitable and knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna. They are justifiably proud of their home, so take advantage of their expertise!

We stayed two nights in the River House, which itself is to be recommended. The sound of rushing water will put you to sleep and you'll wake to a flurry of avian activity. The house is rustic but fully equipped, and we found it very pleasant. I suppose it could get hot and stuffy without air conditioning...the fully-furnished kitchen is a great advantage as well.

The trails to the forest start right at the hacienda, which is a huge benefit for people staying at Yellow House. After a hike of 30-45 minutes, you reach the various trailheads, but even that hike offers great opportunities for seeing wildlife. There are five different trails available with more than enough mileage for your average punter.

Don't miss breakfast either! The hummingbird feeders keep things extremely active out on the patio. Well worth spending an hour or so in the morning relaxing, with eggs, local seasonal fruit, and coffee.

I really enjoyed my stay at the Yellow House. The room was comfortable and it's in a lovely location and a nice trail goes up the hill from there. I especially enjoyed breakfast with the Hummingbirds. Maria and her staff were always friendly and helpful. Highly recommended!

I spent two weeks in Mindo at the tranquil lodge called Hacienda San Vincente, known locally by the name Yellow House for its bright home and maybe too because of its beautiful yellow orchids that festoon the trees along the numerous hiking trails. I tried out staying in both types of accomodations; the private rooms and the cabin and enjoyed quiet relaxation, birdwatching, wonderful breakfasts prepared by the owners, (who happen to be sisters too) and fast internet so that I could get just a little bit of work done while on vacation! I highly recommend you stay here and you can also visit just for the day and enjoy hiking their trails.

This was probably my favorite place to stay in all of ecuador. The amount of species on the property is outstanding and many of them are very easy to see and find. Their trails are extensive. The rooms are simple, but clean and comfortable. Breakfast was great, and the staff were helpful and kind. Best of all, you cannot beat the price for what this place offers.

Stayed here for four nights with my girlfriend and another friend. The owners were very friendly and helpful, especially when it came to arranging drivers for birding excursions. Breakfast was also quite lovely, with delicious fresh fruit and a view of some very active hummingbird feeders. Be prepared for rain if you go in the afternoon; we got lucky most days, but afternoon rain is to be expected in that part of Ecuador. We had many of our best birding experiences just from the deck overlooking the gardens. If you have only a short visit, I'd definitely focus on the gardens by the Yellow House itself. The trail to the forest has a lot of nice birds as well, my personal favorites being lineated woodpecker and bay-headed tanager. It takes about 40 minutes to reach the forest, longer if you're stopping frequently to look at birds. Birding in the forest is very tough if you don't have much experience birding by ear in that region of Ecuador, as you won't get good views (or any views) at most birds in the forest. We did see crested guans, fleeting views of cock-of-the rock,.and critically endangered Ecuadorian white-faced capuchin monkeys in the forest though, so worth a trip if you have a while to spend at Yellow House.

This wonderful lodge is spacious, quiet, and has kilometers of marked trails that go through amazing bird habitat. I saw toucans, motmots, saltators, tanagers, cuckoos, flycatchers, guans, parrots, egrets, doves, sparrows, bananaquits, and more. I did not have a guide; these are just the things one sees walking along the roads and trails on the property. The lodge includes breakfast –a generous and substantial meal, with homemade guava preserves from their own orchards – and is a ten-minute easy walk into Mindo Village where there are lots of restaurants and grocers for the other meals. The women who run the lodge are helpful, and brought me into the kitchen to look out the big picture windows when a toucan arrived at the platform feeders in the garden there. They also brought me a bird guide to use (I had one, but they didn't know) during breakfast, which is served on a lovely porch with an expansive view of the valley, with several hummingbird feeders that had non-stop traffic with several species of hummers. My room was very nice: comfortable, hammock on one porch, table and chairs on the other, with plenty of cover to watch the birds even when it was raining, which it did several times while I was there. The wifi was strong, the bathroom modern, and in my building there was also a full kitchen for my use. I couldn't have asked for a better place to stay, and if I ever return to Ecuador, I would definitely spend a few more days here. I liked it so much I went to get my husband from his beach house and brought him to spend a few more days at Hacienda San Vincente. If you need a non-Spanish person for making the reservation, the website has this available. I think anyone who likes the outdoors, hiking, etc, will like this, even if you aren't a birder.

Wonderful accommodation on the border of mindo. Fantastic breakfast. They have wonderful trails were you can walk. Lots of birds.

Really good hostel and beautiful location with several trails that you can walk with a massive variety of birds (and other animals) that you can encounter on their trails.

Stayed here for 4 nights, really clean rooms and bathrooms, really good breakfast with an awesome view over Mindo with several species of Hummingbirds flying in front of you. Also a chance of parrots, tucans and other birds that might sit in front of the balcony while having breakfast.

@Barrie Hoster I don't work for the Yellow House just to be clear there. I stayed there for 3 night and I have nothing to say but great things about this place. It was clean and great for birds. Their trails are amazing!. I'm also a photographer and primarily photograph birds as a hobby. They are located in a Cloud forest and you must understand how the weather behave in that area as part of your photographic research you should had done before heading there. Rain often come and go. It's completely normal.

I don't know who was the person that you talked to. Because I can say Maria Elena is amazing and super understandable. She would probably have done something for you. Also let's be real $6 is not "a crazy amount of money". (In my opinion)

If you appreciate nature & enjoy nature you should appreciate what these people have done for this part of the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest.

I would recommend it to my friends. Maria Elena even gave me a discount without me asking for it. The cleaning lady even ran after me because I left my own towel in the room. 5/5 stars for them.